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Kegels really work but you need to make sure you are contracting the correct muscle as some of the research in these exercises says that woman are not really "squeezing" the right muscle. If you are tightening and contracting the right muscle, no one should see you doing it so you will not feel silly. The muscle is inside your body, supporting your bladder.

You should feel your vagina lift up and your rectum pull in. Your buttocks or gluteal muscles should not move so you are not lifting your body and your stomach should not move.View Thread

You need to call the physician who prescribed the Macrobid and tell him the problems you have been experiencing since starting the Macrobid. Maybe you are reacting negatively to the antibiotic or you still have the UTI and need a different antibiotic.View Thread

I think you should try a very structured pelvic floor muscle training program with biofeedback and electrical stimulation. I would see either a nurse practitioner like myself who specializes in pelvic floor dysfunction or a physical therapist who has been trained in this area. Another surgical procedure is probably not going to solve your problem but muscle training can.

The following URL provides information on these exercises but you need supervised treatment:

I think you should try a very structured pelvic floor muscle training program with biofeedback and electrical stimulation. I would see either a nurse practitioner like myself who specializes in pelvic floor dysfunction or a physical therapist who has been trained in this area. Another surgical procedure is probably not going to solve your problem but muscle training can.

The following URL provides information on these exercises but you need supervised treatment:

It sounds as though you may have "interstitial cystitis" or IC. IC is a condition characterized by pelvic pain, urinary urgency, and urinary frequency and pain with sex.

The exact cause of IC not understood, but may be a chronic infection of the bladder, lymphatic disease, autoimmune (self-attacking disease—the body turns on itself) disorders, and even psychological and neurological conditions. IC is frequently misdiagnosed as infection, OAB, or endometriosis, among other conditions with similar symptoms. IC treatment includes pharmacological therapy (both pills and medications that are put in the bladder. Oral meds include pentosan polysulfate sodium (elmiron) 100 mg 3 times a day, amitriptyline (elavil) 10—75 mg nightly, gabapentin (neurontin), and topiramate (topamax). Pentosan polysulfate sodium is the only FDA-approved oral medication for IC.

Other treatments include myofascial release, bladder stretching, and biofeedback, and soft tissue massage, and other physical therapies such as trigger point release and pelvic floor muscle relaxation can alleviate pain and frequency.

Dietary modifications may relieve and control symptoms and avoid flare-ups in symptoms.

How many members of this exchange think that incontinence only happens to older people? If you are young, female and involved in a strenuous athletic program, there's a pretty good chance that you leak urine on a regular basis. And if you are one of those young, female, athletes, do you imagine that you are the only one with this issue? Have you ever told anyone about it? Why don't you share your story with others in this exchange.

Young women athletes are at high risk for stress urinary incontinence (or stress UI), especially when they participate in high impact sports. Stress UI is involuntary or unwanted urine leakage when laughing, coughing or on effort or when exercising.

In a 2005 study* of high school and college age female athletes in the Midwest, 28% had experienced symptoms of SUI while playing sports, exercising, coughing, walking to the bathroom, running, sneezing, jumping, hearing running water, or while weight lifting.

Twenty-five percent of the study participants reported that they had urine leakage 2-4 times each month and 8% reported having urine leakage 2 to 4 times per week.

The amount of leakage ranged from dampness or drops to small amounts of wetness.

Sixteen percent said that the leakage had a negative impact on their social lives, sports and exercise.

Eight percent avoided hobbies, social activities, sports and exercise because of the stress UI.

Perhaps the biggest surprise from the study is that 91% of the participants had never heard of pelvic floor muscle exercises (sometimes called Kegel exercises) but most said they would try them if they knew the correct way to do Kegels.

The study also revealed that 92% of the participants with stress UI had hidden their problem and not told anyone about it—not a friend, a parent or their doctor, and none had ever sought professional treatment.

If you are a young female athlete who leaks urine during any kind of vigorous activity or when you exercise, please add Kegel exercises to your regular workouts and make them a part of your daily routine. Pelvic floor muscle exercise has been shown to reduce or eliminate stress UI in many women. Here's how to do them correctly:

It is true that bleeding can occur for a significant amount of time after radiation for prostate cancer. A catheter may be further irritating the bladder, causing bleeding. If they are giving your father-in-law a blood thinner (e.g heparin), this may also cause more bleeding.View Thread

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